


you chose her over me

by Whyyyyy



Series: cadnis canon fics [29]
Category: Mean Girls - Richmond/Benjamin/Fey
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-20 09:47:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30003003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whyyyyy/pseuds/Whyyyyy
Summary: janis's promposal goes awry and she ends up taking the wrong girl to prom
Relationships: Cady Heron/Aaron Samuels (one-sided), Cady Heron/Janis Sarkisian, Regina George & Aaron Samuels, Regina George/Janis Sarkisian
Series: cadnis canon fics [29]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2149737
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	you chose her over me

**Author's Note:**

> @Hayeena thank you for this idea!!! i love it when y'all give me things to write

"Janis!" Damian shoved his way through the crowd, stopping at Janis's locker. "Jan," he said breathlessly, grinning. "Did you do it?"

Janis made a face at him - his voice was way too loud - but answered, "Yeah." 

Damian did a little happy dance. "Yay! This is gonna be so great!" He paused his dance, seeing the look on Janis's face. "Hey, what's wrong?"

She glared at him. "What do you think? I just asked my best friend to prom, and I'm scared it's gonna blow up in my face."

Damian scowled. "Okay, first and foremost, I claim the best friend title. Cady gets 'close friend', and/or 'love interest'. Second, it is not gonna blow up in your face. Cady loves you, I'm one hundred percent sure."

"That's nice, Damian, but you were also one hundred percent sure you were gonna get the lead in our production of _Newsies_ last year."

He gasped, pressing a hand to his chest in offense. "Why would you bring that up?" 

She didn't respond, instead raising a hand to her mouth and beginning to bite her nails.

Damian sighed, swatting her hand away. "Jan. Chill. I'm sure it's fine. How did you do it?"

"The promposal?" she sighed. "I made a little drawing of myself with 'prom?' written in a speech bubble. It's in an envelope in her locker."

"Aww," Damian grinned. "That's so very cute, and _so very_ gay."

"Yeah, that's sort of the point."

He laughed. "Fair enough."

Janis raised a hand to her mouth again, and once again Damian swatted it away. "Okay, disaster lesbian. Let's go to class."

* * *

"Sarkisian!" Janis and Damian were halfway out of the school building that afternoon when Regina came storming up to them. "I need to talk to you," she said to Janis. When Janis gestured for her to go ahead, she shook her head. "No. Alone."

Damian held up his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay, I'm gone." he disappeared out the door of the school.

Janis folded her arms. "What could possibly be so important?"

Regina bit her lip and then, to Janis's horror, pulled a cream-colored envelope out of her purse. "This was in my locker. Care to explain?"

Janis froze. "I..." she stammered, her mind racing. How the fuck had her note ended up in Regina's locker? She'd put it in Cady's, she was positive. She'd even asked Aaron which locker was Cady's, just to be extra sure. 

Regina tapped her toe against the linoleum floor expectantly. "Well?"

And then Janis did something very, _very_ stupid.

"I meant to put it there." She stuck out her chin defiantly. "I wanted... to ask you to prom."

Regina's face softened a little, and Janis could already tell that she was gonna regret this. "Really?" Regina asked softly. "I kinda thought you still hated me."

"Well. I don't," Janis said truthfully. Her problems with Regina were in the past now.

Regina smiled. "Okay then." She slipped the envelope back into her purse, and Janis resisted the urge to snatch it back. "I'd love to go to prom with you." She squeezed Janis's shoulder, then turned and walked out of the building, leaving Janis wondering what the fuck she'd just done.

Down the hall, a redheaded girl in a mathletes jacket stood in the doorway of a classroom, holding back tears as she watched Janis follow Regina out of the school.

"Africa, you participating or what?" Kevin Gnapoor called from within the classroom, where they were having their Mathletes meeting.

"Yeah, sorry," Cady said quickly, plastering on a smile and turning away from the scene she'd just witnessed, doing her best to convince herself she'd be fine.

* * *

"You did WHAT?" 

Janis winced and held the phone further away from her ear as Damian exploded into a stream of expletives. "You done?" she asked when he ran out of swear words.

" _No_. I need you to explain to me _right now_ why on EARTH you would let Regina FUCKING George think you meant to take her to prom! I mean, what were you thinking?"

"I don't know!" Janis moaned, burrowing further under her covers, where she'd been hiding since she'd gotten home that afternoon. "She was just... she was there and she was asking me why it was in her locker and I didn't have an answer so I just thought, you know, maybe it's better this way! I mean, not the taking Regina to prom part specifically, mostly just the not taking Cady part. I mean, I had just been worrying that I'd ruin our friendship, and then Regina appeared and basically gave me an out, so I took it."

Damian sighed. "Oh, Jan. You poor, stupid lesbian."

"I know!" Janis wailed. "But there's nothing I can do about it now."

"This is going to end badly."

"Probably," she agreed miserably. "I should've just gone with you."

He snorted. “What, to prom? What makes you think I don’t have my own date?”

“Do you?”

“Well, no, but the point is that I could.”

“Anyway...” Janis said pointedly.

“Yes! The problem at hand! Are you actually gonna take Regina George to prom?”

“I mean, I kinda think I have to,” Janis sighed.

“You don’t _have to_ do anything,” Damian admonished. “You could call Regina right now and say you’ve changed your mind about taking her to prom. The problem would be the consequences of doing that.”

Janis scowled. “Okay, we don’t have to dissect it.”

“I’m just saying.”

There was a pause. Then Janis groaned again, mashing her face into her pillow. "I'm gonna go to prom with her, aren't I?"

"Yep."

"Fuck."

* * *

"Are you sure about this, Janis?" Cady stood beside Janis, watching as the taller girl shoved her books aggressively into her locker.

"Sure about what?" 

Cady gave her a look. "Don't make me say it again. Are you even listening to me?"

"Um, yeah," Janis said distractedly. "I shouldn't take Regina to prom, she ruined my life, et cetera, et cetera."

Cady sighed. "I'm not trying to interfere-"

"Yet here we are." 

"Janis, I'm just looking out for you." 

Janis slammed her locker shut. "Yes, I know, you've been saying that for two weeks. And I..." she swallowed hard. "I love you, dude, but it's getting annoying."

"Ugh, I know, I'm sorry." Cady pouted. "I'll stop." She trailed a finger down Janis's arm, and Janis started to rethink this whole preserve-the-friendship plan. Especially when Cady added, "I love you." She smiled and tapped Janis's nose with the tip of her pointer finger. "Just be careful, okay?"

By now, Janis was pretty much a living embodiment of the term _gay panic_. But somehow she pushed through it enough to squeak out a quiet "okay." Cady nodded, satisfied, then disappeared down the hallway. 

"On a scale of one to ten, how much are you regretting this Regina thing right now?" 

Janis turned to see Damian smirking at her from several feet away. "Oh, shut up," she moaned. "I know."

"It's not too late, you know." He took a step closer. "You could just tell the truth."

Janis closed her eyes. "I don't wanna," she whined. "It's all so complicated now."

"You made it that way."

"I know!" She opened her eyes again, stomping her foot like a toddler. "Stop yelling at me about it."

Damian made a fake pout face. "Aw, come here, hashtag complicit." He held out his arms, and Janis crumpled into them. 

"Am I doing the right thing?" she murmured into his chest. "I know this isn't... ideal. But at least I'm protecting Cady, right?"

"Protecting her from what, JanJan?" Damian asked gently. 

"From me," she whispered.

She felt Damian tense up. "Janis. You're not-"

"Damian." She pulled away, shaking her head. "Let's not do this now."

He gave her a long, searching look, nodding slowly. "Yeah. Okay."

* * *

**Prom Night**

Janis knew that the night was going to be a disaster as soon as Regina arrived at her house on prom night. 

Well. Maybe not as soon as Regina arrived. Janis had to allow herself at least fifteen seconds to take in Regina's general... regality.

"You're staring," Regina pointed out tactfully.

Janis forced her jaw shut. Regina was wearing a bright red prom dress with a tight bodice, and her hair was curled and twisted back over one shoulder. Her eyes were lined in thick black eyeliner and her lipstick shade matched her dress exactly. And while Regina certainly _wasn't_ the primary girl on Janis's mind tonight... _damn_. 

"I, um." She gave herself a mental kick. She needed to be as alert as possible tonight. "Hi."

Regina smirked at her. "Hi." 

"You look... nice," Janis forced out.

"Thank you. So do you," Regina said with a smile. "Shall we?"

Janis nodded, and yes, _now_ the dread was sinking in. They walked out to Regina's bright pink car in silence, avoiding eye contact. When they reached it, Janis finally broke the silence. 

"Isn't it technically supposed to be _me_ taking _you_ to prom? Like shouldn't I have picked you up instead?"

Regina snorted. "I refuse to show up to prom in the garbage fire that is your car."

Janis scowled. "Rude thing to say to your date."

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry," Regina said, half-laughing as she clambered into the driver's seat. Well. Not clambered. More like slid gracefully without even messing up her hair. "I was just stating facts, but I can see why that'd be offensive."

Janis rolled her eyes as she strapped her seat belt, but she was smiling a little. _Play the part, Janis,_ she reminded. _She thinks you like her._

"Where's Damian?" Regina asked after a pause. "I thought for sure you guys and Cady would have made a plan or something."

"Yeah, well. The jury's still out on whether either of them are coming or not."

Regina chanced a glance over at her, then slid her eyes back to the road. "Why's that?"

Janis sighed. "Neither of them have dates, so they're both claiming that prom is stupid and dumb anyway and they don't need to go to have a good high school experience." She shrugged. "That's bullshit, though. I would bet my life that they're gonna show up as each other's dates, but for now I have to pretend that we don't all know that's what's gonna happen."

Regina laughed. "You guys are so weird."

"Nobody ever said weird was a bad thing." Janis paused. "Well, I guess you did, but whatever."

Regina's grip on the steering wheel tightened. "Janis, I-"

"I know," Janis said quickly. "I wasn't trying to shame you or anything. We're good now, I promise."

Regina nodded slowly. "Okay. Okay." She glanced over at Janis again, smiling softly. "Thanks."

Fuck. This night was going to be a disaster.

* * *

"Ah, there's my favorite lesbian," a voice trilled from behind Janis. She rolled her eyes, mouthing _told you so_ to Regina. 

"Damian!" she said brightly, turning to see her friend standing beside the punch bowl, Cady on his arm. "And Caddy! What a surprise."

Damian scoffed. "You're the world's worst actress."

Janis smiled sweetly. "What made you decide to come?"

"Well, I wouldn't want to miss all the fun," Damian said with a pointed look at Regina. Janis gave him a look, but he pretended not to notice.

"So we came together!" Cady grinned. Until now, Janis had been trying not to look at her too closely, but now there was no avoiding it. Cady was wearing a deep purple dress, and she had more makeup on than usual. Her hair was braided loosely over one shoulder, curled strands framing her face.

And Janis was really, _really_ gay.

She felt herself staring and quickly shifted her gaze back to Damian, pretending not to notice the way Cady was eyeing her and Regina. Why did Cady have to be so fucking protective? That was Janis's job. 

"Let's dance!" Damian said, a poor but admirable attempt to diffuse the tension between the three girls. 

Regina smiled. "Great idea."

So they did, but the tension was still there, a quiet presence underlying everything they did. 

After twenty minutes of this, Janis excused herself and went to go find a quiet corner to feel sorry for herself in. Unfortunately, she only made it halfway off the dance floor before she was intercepted.

"Janis!"

She stopped, rolling her eyes when she saw who it was. "Oh. Hey, Aaron. Do you need something?"

"Um, yes, actually. I need to talk to you." He bit his lip. "I did something, really, really stupid."

"Yeah, so did I, dude, you're not special." Janis tried to push past him, but he stopped her. 

"I know, I just... I made a mistake and I need to tell you about it."

Janis sighed, folding her arms. "Look, Aaron, you know I don't like you, alright? So do us both a favor and go find someone else to whine about this to, because frankly this sounds like a you problem."

He shifted his weight from foot to foot, looking nervous. "Well... yes, but it sort of... affects you."

"The fuck does that mean?"

"I..." he glanced around, making sure that no one was paying attention to them. "I sort of... intercepted your promposal."

Janis's mouth dropped open. "You did _what_ _?"_

His eyes widened, and he took a step back. "Um... remember when you asked me which locker was Cady's? I sort of... gave you Regina's locker number instead."

"Oh, you motherf-"

"See, this is why I wanted us to do this in private," he interrupted, already pulling her away from the crowded gym. "Come on, let's go outside where no one will hear you screaming at me."

Janis muttered a string of expletives under her breath, but allowed Aaron to drag her out to the football field, which was empty save for the few sexually active band geeks making out on the bleachers.

"Okay." He held out his arms as though he were bracing for impact. "Let it out."

Janis didn't hesitate. "Why the FUCK would you do that to me when you KNEW what I was doing you absolute dickhead I can't believe Cady ever dated you I swear to God I am going to end your life right here and now and I don't even care if I get thrown in jail for it because it would be worth it to not have to live in a world with you in it anymore!"

Aaron blinked. "Wow. Okay. That all?"

Janis scowled. "I have more, but that would just be a waste of time when you _could_ be explaining why you did this."

He sighed. "Listen, I know that I shouldn't have done it, I just... I overheard you and Damian talking about it and I just... I couldn't deal. I didn't like the thought of Cady going to prom with someone else, which I know is ridiculous because we broke up like over a year ago, but... I can't help it. I still love her, and I'm mad at myself for letting her go, and..." he shrugged. "I don't know. So I just figured I'd give you a little nudge, since I _also_ heard you and Damian talking about how scared you were that you'd ruin your guys' friendship. And you didn't exactly... do anything about it, so I figured that maybe it ended up being better."

"Don't you _dare_ try to make this _my_ fault you fucking-"

"I know! I know! I'm just explaining my train of thought. But when I saw all of you guys tonight..." He shook his head. "I'm sorry, Janis. I can tell you really love her and I'm sorry I tried to mess with that."

Janis took a deep breath. "Okay."

"Okay?"

"Okay, meaning I still think you're a dick, but thanks for saying that."

He nodded. "Yeah. Um, and if you don't mind me asking..." Janis did mind, but she kept her mouth shut. "Are you going to tell Regina you lied?"

"What?"

Janis froze at the sound of a certain blonde's voice ringing across the field. "Aaron, I hate you _so much,"_ she hissed, then turned to Regina. "Gina! Heyyy!"

Regina took a step closer. "What's he talking about, Janis?"

"I..." she squeezed her eyes shut. "Fuck it. I lied to you, about wanting to take you to prom. The truth is, the note was meant for Cady, but _Aaron_ ," she spit out his name like an insult, feeling him shrink with fear beside her. "Aaron decided to trick me into putting it in your locker instead. And I didn't correct it because I was too scared."

"You..." Regina trailed off. "I see. Okay. Wow."

"I'm sorry," Janis whispered, but Regina just shook her head and walked away. "Fuck." Janis turned back to Aaron. "To answer your question, yes, I guess I am going to tell her."

Aaron let out a squeak, backing away from her. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"Just go away," Janis sighed, waving a hand. "Run away from the scary lesbian. God knows that's what everyone else does."

Aaron hesitated, looking like he wanted to argue the last comment, but wisely thought better off it and slunk off into the night, leaving Janis alone.

* * *

"Janis."

Janis glanced up from her spot on the bleachers, sighing when she saw Damian standing over her, arms folded. "What?" she grumbled, scooting over to make room for him.

He took a seat beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "Aaron told me what happened."

Janis scowled. "Aaron needs to get his mouth sewn shut."

Damian laughed. "Yeah, well." He brushed some hair out of Janis's face. "Are you okay?"

"Obviously not."

"Fair enough." He nudged her gently. "For the record, though, I don't think Cady is either. She disappeared like twenty minutes ago, and Sonja Aquino said she thought she heard someone crying in the girls' bathroom."

Janis glanced up at him. "What does she have to be upset about?"

He shrugged, smirking. "Maybe you should go ask her."

Janis rolled her eyes, but she was already standing up. "Fuck you."

"Have fun!" He called as she hurried down the steps. She flipped him off over her shoulder.

Pushing her way through the crowd, she scanned for Regina and Aaron. Neither of them were in sight, which was good because she really didn't have the mental capacity to deal with them again. She slipped out the doors of the gym and hurried down the hallway to the girls' bathroom.

"Caddy?"

"Fuck," someone muttered from one of the stalls. "Janis? Please tell me that's not you."

"I've told enough lies for one night," Janis said, leaning on the stall next to the one where Cady's voice was coming from. "You wanna tell me what's going on? I feel like I'm always finding you in here."

"Okay, this is the second time, chill." The door swung open, and Cady stalked past Janis and over to the sink, where she began splashing her face with water.

Janis followed her, boosting herself onto the counter beside her. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Right, that's why you're hiding in the bathroom on prom night."

Cady glared at her. "I don't want to talk about it with you."

"Why not?"

"Because."

"Because why?"

"Fuck off."

"Cady, stop."

Cady shook her head. "You're gonna get mad."

"No I'm not, promise."

Cady eyed her suspiciously. "You can't promise that."

"Caddy, come on. I love you, I wanna make sure you're okay."

Cady sighed, leaning against the wall. "I love you too, that's the problem."

Janis froze. "What does that mean?"

"I just..." Cady shook her head. "Nevermind. I know you don't want me to interfere with you and Regina, so."

"Regina and I are no longer a going concern." Janis placed a tentative hand on top of Cady's. "Please, just tell me."

"I... I'm in love with you," Cady whispered. "And I just... I wish that you weren't going to prom with Regina, I wish you were going with me, which is stupid, because it's clearly not like that, but. Yeah."

Janis blinked. "Caddy, no. It _is_ like that." Cady glanced at her, confused. "I was going to ask you to prom," Janis said softly. "The note I gave Regina was meant for you, but your dickhead ex tricked me into giving it to Regina instead."

"Aaron?"

"Yeah. He's still in love with you, by the way, so you might wanna talk to him about that."

Cady shook her head. "No, I already knew. He texts me about it constantly."

Janis rolled her eyes. "Dick. Anyway, I didn't correct anyone about who I actually wanted to take to prom because I didn't want to lose you."

"Lose me?"

"I was scared that it would ruin our friendship if you knew how I felt about you. So when Regina presented this out, I took it, because I'd rather stay friends with you and pretend I don't want to kiss you all the time than tell you how I feel and end up not getting to spend time with you at all."

"And did it never once occur to you that I might feel the same way?"

Janis shook her head. "I have a hard time believing that anyone could ever feel that way about me. To me, it wasn't about trying to ask out a pretty girl, it was about protecting that girl from my weird predatorial feelings. So no, I didn't really consider it. Also because up until now I thought you were straight."

Cady made a face. "Really? Gross. I guess that's on me, though, I never exactly told you." She smiled softly. "Jan, I promise I don't see you as a predator, okay? And I'm sorry you see yourself that way, and also you should _really_ go to therapy."

Janis laughed. "No, I do. It's just that I forget sometimes. That I'm not a complete weirdo."

"Oh, no, you definitely are," Cady said with a laugh. "But not because you're gay."

Janis rolled her eyes. "Okay, okay."

Cady smiled, holding out a hand. "Come here."

Janis complied, allowing Cady to tug her off of the counter and into a kiss. They leaned heavily against the bathroom wall, hands tangled in each other's hair.

"Jesus fucking Christ."

The girls broke apart. "Regina!" Cady squeaked, face bright red. "Hi."

Regina rolled her eyes. "Couldn't even wait an hour, could you, Sarkisian?"

"Regina," Janis said quietly.

"No, it's fine!" Regina said with a very fake smile. "It's fine, my accidental prom date is making out with someone else in the bathroom that I was going to cry in, it's not a big deal. I'll just go somewhere else."

"Regina!" Janis tried again, but the other girl was already gone.

"Yikes," Cady murmured softly. 

Janis nodded. "Yeah. I never should have asked her to prom."

"Probably not," Cady agreed. "But it's okay."

"Is it now?" Janis smirked down at her.

"I mean, no, but you guys will be okay."

"You can't promise that," Janis mimicked. 

Cady snuggled into her side. "Yes I can. I know everything."

Janis laughed. "Whatever you say." She pressed a kiss to the top of Cady's hair. "I love you."

"I love you too," Cady murmured back. 

Outside, on the bleachers, a pair of teenagers sat together, staring miserably out at the football field.

"What do we do?" Regina asked softly, leaning her head on Aaron's shoulder.

"Nothing," He replied, though he didn't sound particularly happy about it. "I tried to do something, and look where it got me. They got together anyway, the only difference being that Janis now hates me more than ever."

"Janis hates everyone," Regina said sullenly. " 'Cept Cady and Damian."

Aaron shook her head. "Nah. I don't think she hates you."

"Well, clearly she doesn't give a shit about my feelings."

"Can you blame her?"

"No," Regina whined. "That's the problem. I deserve everything I'm getting, but it fucking hurts anyway."

"Yeah." Aaron sighed. Lifting his red solo cup, he added, "To Cady and Janis."

Regina snorted, clinking her cup against his. "To Cady and fucking Janis."

**Author's Note:**

> oof that got real angsty at the end i'm sorryyyy also i didn't mean to make aaron such an asshole i actually really like him as a character i just thought it worked better for him to be less Nice here


End file.
